The speaker is an authoritative voice directing a journey down Mississippi Highway 49 to the coastal city of Gulfport. Demonstrating a deep familiarity with the region, the speaker knows both the present state of the shrimp boat riggings and the past reality of the mangrove swamp buried under the sand. This entity establishes the governing rules of time and memory for the physical journey.

Addressed entirely in the second-person point of view, the reader undertakes a physical and mental journey toward the Gulf of Mexico. The traveler carries a heavy, unfillable tome of memory holding the weight of their past. Subject to the constant movement of time, this figure continually changes, meaning they can never exist as the exact same person in the exact same place twice.

Natasha Trethewey is a poet born in Gulfport, Mississippi, to parents of diverse racial backgrounds. Growing up during the shift away from Jim Crow laws, she uses her personal background to explore broader American history. She studies English and creative writing, eventually winning the Pulitzer Prize and serving as Poet Laureate of the United States.

The photographer is an unnamed individual waiting near the docks where the boat departs for Ship Island. This person takes a picture of the traveler before the boat leaves. By capturing this image, the photographer produces a physical record that freezes a specific version of the traveler in time.

Gwendolyn Turnbough is a social worker and the mother of Natasha Trethewey. She marries Eric Trethewey outside of Mississippi to avoid the state's discriminatory anti-miscegenation laws. Her background and marriage provide her daughter with a personal perspective on the racial conflicts of the 1960s.

Eric Trethewey is a Canadian-born English professor who teaches at Hollins University in Virginia. He marries Gwendolyn Turnbough despite the legal and social barriers of the era. His profession and background contribute to the diverse familial environment that shapes his daughter's early life.